Whitecaps’ Darren Mattocks gets an earful over misses

Striker welcomes teammates’ feedback in wake of Houston loss

Striker Darren Mattocks of the Vancouver Whitecaps celebrates his highlight-reel goal against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday with teammates Daigo Kobayashi and Nigel Reo-Coker during an MLS match at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

Photograph by: Scott Halleran
, Getty Images

The speedy Jamaican scored on a well-taken 20-yard shot in the first half of Saturday’s 2-1 loss in Houston, a strike that is up for Major League Soccer goal of the week. But with Vancouver up 1-0, he messed up a tantalizing counterattack in the second half, firing directly at Dynamo goalkeeper Tally Hall from 12 yards out after a nifty cut inside.

It was essentially a three-on-two break, with rookie winger Erik Hurtado on the right on the play and midfielder Nigel Reo-Coker arriving unmarked into the box. The lone defender probably would have cut off any cross to Hurtado, but Reo-Coker was a viable option, although it was unclear if Mattocks saw him.

Reo-Coker, who said he had spoken personally to Mattocks after the match at BBVA Compass Stadium, was mildly critical of the young striker for not doing better with the gilt-edged opportunity, whether from a pass or a better shot.

“I said to Darren after the game, ‘With the level we’re at now, those are the small margins that we can’t let pass us by,” Reo-Coker, who was wearing the captain’s armband for the game, said on the post-game radio show. “We take our second chance, the game’s 2-0. It would have been very difficult for them to come back.

“That’s the difference between playing a higher level of football and a lower level of football. You take your chances. You might only get once chance away from home and you must learn to take that one chance that you may get.”

Mattocks, who had a couple of other good opportunities in the second half, said after practice on Monday that he was all ears when Reo-Coker spoke.

“That’s really great. As a striker, if you want to get to the next level, you’ve got to learn to take the constructive criticism. Because at the end of the day, it’s going to help me get better and, overall, this team get better.”

Interestingly, experienced Caps defender Andy O’Brien, an English Premier League veteran like Reo-Coker, said he thought Mattocks’ decision to shoot on that promising counterattack was the right one.

“Strikers are very selfish. The most successful striker I ever played with was Alan Shearer and he was very selfish. He wouldn’t have passed in that situation.”

Mattocks also said Reo-Coker’s words weren’t any different than any veteran would say to a striker.

“It’s really good that you have teammates that really dedicate themselves to get (the team) better.”

Mattocks echoed the assessment of head coach Martin Rennie and others that the Caps played well on the road against a tough opponent — the Dynamo are two-time MLS finalists and now have a 27-game home unbeaten streak — and were unlucky not to get a better result.

In addition to Mattocks’ misses, Camilo Sanvezzo had a free kick from outside the box go off both posts before being cleared by the Houston defence.

“We were unlucky not to come away with any points, but that’s the way it goes sometimes,” said Mattocks. “A striker sometimes makes them, sometimes misses them.”

Reo-Coker said when the team loses a game, the mentality has to be to look critically at the performance and to discuss ways to improve.

“We had a discussion as a team,” he said. “It wasn’t like a wild rant and rave. It wasn’t cursing or anything like that. It’s all about the delivery. I said ‘guys, for us to progress, we need to learn quick that we have to take our chances on the road.’

“It wasn’t singling out anyone. It was about us developing and growing as a team. That’s how it was taken and that’s how it was handled.”

Reo-Coker, who joined the Caps this season, said the club played well at times, soaking up pressure and creating those scoring chances.

“Houston is seen as one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference and they showed that. They’re a good team, but at the same time, we watched the video today and we really did play some good football. We didn’t deserve to lose that game at all.

“It’s the small margins now, the small things that make the biggest difference. That small margin will make us finish at the top in the Western Conference or finish second and beyond.”

As well as Rennie and his players believe they performed, they did surrender two goals on some marking mistakes in their box and could have conceded one or two more if the Dynamo’s Warren Creavalle hadn’t skied three balls over the goal from close range in the first half.

Vancouver’s goals-against stat is also trending in the wrong direction after three games, from zero to one to two. And now they head to Los Angeles this Saturday to face Chivas USA, who have scored seven goals in their last two games.

“They send a lot of players forward,” said Rennie.”They’re an unorthodox team, so we must defend well. With a little bit of improvement on Saturday, we can do well this week. But the most important thing is we continue to get better all season and peak at the right time.”

CORNER KICKS: Forward Kenny Miller, who is with Scotland for Tuesday’s World Cup qualifier in Serbia, will fly to Los Angeles on Thursday and meet the Caps there. Rennie said it would be difficult to start him, “but unless he gets a knock, then he should be able to come off the bench.”

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Striker Darren Mattocks of the Vancouver Whitecaps celebrates his highlight-reel goal against the Houston Dynamo on Saturday with teammates Daigo Kobayashi and Nigel Reo-Coker during an MLS match at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston, Texas.

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